1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercise machines that either assist or resist the ability of a person to perform a push-up.
2. Prior Art Statement
In the endeavor of physical exercise, few exercises are performed more often than are push-ups. To perform a push-up, a person does not need any exercise equipment other than a firm floor. Yet, push-up exercises are very useful in developing and/or rehabilitating the muscles of the chest and arms.
Since push-ups do not require any exercise equipment, push-up exercises are often recommended to people who do not have any exercise equipment at home and require development of the arms and/or chest.
A push-up is an exercise where a person lays prone on a flat surface and pushes himself/herself away from the flat surface using his/her arms. However, push-ups cannot be performed by all people. Many people, due to injury, age or lack of physical ability, lack the upper body strength needed to do even one push-up. Such people often become discouraged from exercising since they cannot perform this simple exercise.
On the other end of the fitness spectrum are people who have such a large degree of upper body strength, that a push-up does not provide enough resistance to challenge that person's muscles. Such people are therefore required to go to a gym or purchase exercise equipment that can provide enough resistance to present a challenging workout.
In the prior art, there are many devices that have been invented that are intended to either help a person performing a push-up or resist a person performing a push-up. In this manner, people either too weak to benefit from push-ups or too strong to benefit from push-ups can use push-ups to exercise. Devices that assist a person in performing a push-up typically have handles on which the hands are placed when doing a push-up. A piston or other such device is then used to help move the handles toward one another and assist in the push-up. Such prior art devices are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,408 to Westmoreland, entitled Apparatus For Maximizing Push-ups.
Exercise devices that add resistance to doing a push-up, typically apply weight to the back of the person performing the push-up. In this manner, the person doing the push-up must lift their own torso weight plus whatever added weight is placed on the back. Such prior art exercise devices are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,741 to Ganzer, entitled Isometric Push-up Machine.
When performing a push-up, the back is held straight while the arms are used to push the weight of the torso away from the floor. Many people whose arm and chest muscles would benefit from push-ups lack muscle strength in their backs and legs to perform a traditional push-up. For example, people recovering from back surgery may lack the strength in their back muscles to hold their back straight during a push-up. Similarly, people who are paralyzed below the torso lack the ability to do a push-up since their legs cannot support their body weight while doing a push-up.
A need therefore exists for an exercise device that can assist a weak person in performing a push-up, resist a strong person from performing a push-up and enable people who are paralyzed or have weak lower body strength to perform push-ups. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.